


Liquid Gold

by allthetrek



Series: A Stranding, A Crash Landing [5]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 21:01:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19070596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthetrek/pseuds/allthetrek
Summary: Captain Pike and the reader get stranded on a Class L planet. With no guarantee of rescue, they must adapt to life together in their new environment. Eventually, formalities and professional boundaries fall away, leaving room for a more personal connection to flourish.





	Liquid Gold

Just one more fused power relay to replace… You probe the metallic piece into the groove inside the replicator access panel, and it snaps into place like a puzzle piece. Perfect fit. Good thing too, because that was the last of your spare parts. Fingers crossed the unit works now! You and the Captain can’t live on ration packs forever, and your supplies are dwindling by the day.

Speaking of the Captain… Christopher watches you from his cot toward the rear of the ship, marvelling at your skill with a decoupler. His chest twinges with guilt at being bedridden since the two of you crash landed on this desolate rock. He’s a Starfleet trained, battle-hardened, experienced officer, and here he is completely at your mercy to help him recover, and to repair the ship so you can both survive.

“Moment of truth!” you exclaim with a hopeful smile, snapping him out of his dismal thoughts. His lips pull into a weak smile and he gives you a slight nod, as your index finger taps the activation panel on the unit. Light floods the control panel, the replicator coming alive before your eyes, and your eyes illuminate, partially a reflection of the lights before you, but mostly you’re just so happy something is finally going your way! The past several days have been hell, and you’ve been feeling the pressure. Your distress beacon has still gone unanswered, and Christopher’s condition worries you, though you try not to let it show. You know he’s worried, too.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” you squeal, overcome with relief, and the Captain watches your reaction, stoic in his state, though his smile tugs further across his handsome, stubbled face. Seeing you happy, your eyes sparkling in the ambient lighting, stirs something in him, something he hasn’t felt in a long time…

You run a quick diagnostic on the unit and it appears everything is in check. You scroll through the replicator’s sustenance options, not seeing quite what you’d had in mind for you and the Captain. Your fingers tap furiously on the screen of the older model, generations behind the replicators standard to Constitution-class starships like the Enterprise, and you enter a new program.

Minutes later, the unit materializes your meal, and you pull out two chrome bowls of steaming noodle soup, just what the doctor ordered. Well, what you ordered, technically. Christopher grunts with exertion and pain as he adjusts himself in bed, sitting up as you approach him. He manages to swing his legs over the edge of the bed, perching himself precariously on the edge, but luckily he’s feeling strong enough to stay upright this time.

You hand him the noodle soup, and the aromatic vapors permeate the air around him. “Thank you,” he says appreciatively, accepting your offer gladly. You smile warmly in response, sitting across from him on your cot, and you begin to eat your dinner with the large metal spoon that came submersed in the flavorful, nutritious suspension.

The two of you eat, glancing at each other occasionally, with not much else to look at besides the person across from you. The Captain looks weary and dishevelled, his hair askew and the salt-and-pepper stubble of days gone by a stark contrast to his usually clean-shaven, well-kept appearance. He remains shirtless, with red and purple bruising branching out from beneath the large bandage on his side. He looks vulnerable, debilitated, though the strength of a man with endless resolve shines from his striking blue eyes. He’s determined to get through this. There’s no way he’s leaving you to survive out here by yourself.

You notice the determination in his eyes as his gaze meets yours, his peripheral vision scanning your appearance in reciprocation. Your hair is amiss, yet the messy, tousled look of it appeals to him on some level. Your eyes convey the same kindness and compassion that’s been pulling him through these hellish days of injury and infection. He can’t help but notice your bare shoulders, your figure, and other things about you he never thought of before… But now, lying in bed all day, with you as his only company, you’ve begun to fill his thoughts…

“How is it?” you ask him, breaking the comfortable silence and pulling Christopher once again from his thoughts. You raise your spoon a little, gesturing that you’re inquiring about the quality of your meal.

“It’s… Perfect. It tastes like home,” he replies sincerely. Indeed, it reminds him of home, both on Earth and on the Enterprise, of comfort and security. With each spoonful of the liquid gold, he feels his strength and hope slowly returning.

“Good. It’s my own recipe. Well, I mean I programmed it myself,” you state with a grin. It’s been ages since you cooked from scratch, but you sure can program a replicator. Imagine creating a recipe down to each particle, balancing the flavor at the molecular level.

Your sweet smile and warmth radiate through Christopher, and he realizes it’s not the soup that’s making him feel so much better… It’s you.


End file.
